Stand Your Ground Law needs reforms

Tuesday

Anyone who thinks Florida's Stand Your Ground Law is just fine hasn't been paying attention.

The law creates incentives for Wild West justice under the pretense of self-defense.

Unintended consequences of the law include a spike in justifiable homicides, inconsistent interpretation of the law and a legal presumption that self-defense is justified even under absurd conditions.

For instance, the number of justifiable homicides by civilians increased by 200 percent in the first five years of the law, reported PolitiFact.

In Miami-Dade, a judge ruled that a man who chased down a burglar and stabbed him to death was standing his ground, The Miami Herald reported.

The final report from a state task force doesn't help matters much. Despite a series of hearings and a cast of VIPs, the report is superficial.

It concurs with the basic principle of the law that a person has a chance to defend himself against attack. But in too many cases that is not how the law is being interpreted.

In fact, it's so flawed that the task force suggests that the law be amended so that the definition of "unlawful activity" is added. The fact that the definition is even needed indicates a major problem.

The task force also suggested a clear definition of Neighborhood Watch Groups so that they are not used to confront or pursue potential suspects. But it doesn't go any further than that weak comment.

For real meat, you must go to the appendix of the report to find suggested amendments by Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. Her comments make clear the major flaws in the law.

Rundle would add the phrase "imminent peril of death" to clarify the Stand Your Ground defense.

It clearly has been used to justify any fear of attack no matter how absurd. Currently, the person fearing attack is presumed to be right without any evidence to the contrary.

As she wrote, "The law has removed all requirements of reasonableness on the part of the person who uses deadly force ... Thus, a person who without permission enters another's yard to ask directions or sell something and forcefully opens a porch door can be killed without questions being asked first.

"That person, who can be a child, may be conclusively presumed to have been there to do violence, and no evidence presented to the contrary can legally make a difference."

In addition, the Stand Your Ground Law needs to be clarified that it should not apply to someone who is the initial aggressor.

In short, the task force report should be considered a first step in a more detailed effort to repair a law that is severely flawed.

Following Rundle's recommendations would be a fine start.

Land of opportunityAmerica traditionally does not guarantee equal results, but our nation does guarantee opportunity.

But there is disturbing new evidence that this nation is more set into classes than some European nations. Economist Joseph Stiglitz of the University of Chicago presents the following data:

"The upwardly mobile American is becoming a statistical oddity," he wrote in a New York Times blog. "Economic mobility in the United States is lower than in most of Europe and lower than in all of Scandinavia."

If an American child is born into a family with college-educated parents, then the way is paved for success - more so than in almost any advanced country.

"After 1980, the poor grew poorer, the middle stagnated and the top did better and better," Stiglitz wrote.

So what's the cause? Education is the great leveler. Publicly funded education from K-12 is no longer enough. Education is required before kindergarten and after high school.

Even after graduation, unpaid internships are a growing part of the path to success. Who can afford those? Young adults from wealthier families.

Expanding the reach of education is the way to extend opportunity for all.

Online collegeThe difficulties with taking online courses in college were described recently by John Delaney, president of the University of North Florida.

These courses can easily be abused, turning into grade factories. To do them well requires extra effort.

And for those students who are poorly prepared or need extra help, online courses are little help. A five-year study of 51,000 students in Washington State found that students who took higher proportions of online courses were less likely to earn degrees.

Anyone looking for a great quality at low cost will be disappointed. There is no panacea.

Supporting a great causeHere are two good ways to support the Jacksonville Public Library offered by the Friends of the Library: Buy some books and sign a petition.

You can do both at the warehouse sale at the University Park Library.

"This sale is our biggest ever because we have lots of new shelving to display more books than ever before," President Harry Reagan said in a news release.

"Our volunteers have been working hard to get ready for this event."

Also Reagan said customers will be asked to sign petitions for a straw vote on creating a special tax district for libraries in Jacksonville.

He said almost 27,000 signatures are needed to place the question on the November 2014 ballot.

Here's the schedule for the book sale:

Tuesday: 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. ($10 for a bag of books)

Thursday: 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. ($10 for a bag of books)

Saturday: 9 p.m. to 1 p.m. ($10 for a bag of books)

For more information visit the Friends' website (fjpl.org) or call (904) 630-2304.

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